Description
Book SynopsisExplores the role of evolution in human responses to the environment, beginning with why we have emotions and ending with evolutionary approaches to aesthetics. The author reveals how our emotional lives today are shaped by decisions our ancestors made centuries ago on African savannas as they selected places to live.
Trade Review"No scholar better understands the intimate linkage between evolutionary biology and the human condition, and none has expressed it in a more interesting and well-illustrated manner than Orians." (E. O. Wilson, Harvard University) "A neat, thought-provoking volume." (New Scientist) "Orians argues that our emotional responses to aesthetics in nature are hardwired and an evolutionary legacy of our animal origins. Here, he explores the relationship between our 'ghosts of environments past' and our view of the world." (Times Higher Education)